


Mamihlapinatapei

by bluestrawberryiii



Category: Cryptids - Fandom, The Babadook (2014)
Genre: M/M, Mutual Pining, im so sorry for anyone on the tags who actually wants content based on the movie, the tag is overrun and im only contributing to the problem, this was a request on tumblr that i was told i should post on here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-12
Updated: 2017-06-12
Packaged: 2018-11-13 02:51:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11175468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluestrawberryiii/pseuds/bluestrawberryiii
Summary: Mamihlapinatapei - The look between two people in which each loves the other but is too afraid to make the first move.





	Mamihlapinatapei

**Author's Note:**

> written as a request on tumblr!

The Babadook glanced across the couch to where Mothman sat, wings tucked neatly to either side, mandibles slicing cleanly into a hunk of meat with quiet and precise _shnk shnk shnk_ noises. His giant insectoid eyes met the Babadook’s and he looked down, hoping Mothman hadn’t caught the flush that sprang up on his death-white cheeks.

_Are you enjoying the movie?_ Mothman warbled. It wasn’t actual words; more a discordant chorus of buzzes, moving up and down in strange inflections and deep tones. But the Babadook knew what he meant. He always knew.

He nodded. Mothman nodded back, and they both turned their attention back towards the screen. What would it be like, the Babadook wondered, to have the words to tell Mothman how he felt? Whenever he tried to speak, all that came out was the childish name that he’d been given, a raspy, prolonged _babaaaadoook_ that couldn’t possibly begin to convey the depths of his affection for Mothman. The way his wings filtered sunlight like tattered, dusty drapes, painting the floor in dappled sunspots. The way his claws glistened when covered in blood and viscera. The lush midnight of Mothman’s silky coat. It made the Babadook’s long-stilled heart always somehow squeeze itself into knots whenever they were in the same room. Often the very nature of his existence threatened to consume him - the grief that made up everything he was felt like it defined him, was all he could ever be. But being with Mothman, who was raw and unbridled and full of life, yet inexplicably chose to spend his time with the Babadook… It made him feel like maybe, just maybe, he could be something more.

He chanced a look back over to Mothman, only to find the monster’s piercing crimson eyes trained on him. When their eyes met this time, neither looked away.

_I want to tell him how I feel_ , the Babadook thought. _I want him to know how much he means to me_. Sometimes he got the feeling Mothman could see right through him, cut through the Babadook’s black-hole eyes and gaping mouth and get to his deepest thoughts and wishes. Looking deeply into Mothman’s glowing ruby eyes, the Babadook hoped desperately that he was right. That Mothman understood, because he knew he wasn’t strong enough to confess, wasn’t sure he could even if he knew how. The Babadook pled silently with his eyes, hoping Mothman would understand.

Mothman stared back, and there was something in his gaze that told the Babadook exactly what he needed to know.

Mothman knew.

Mothman cared.

And Mothman would never let him go.

**Author's Note:**

> hi i havent watched the babadook because i would die. i tried listening to the noise he makes for reference and idk if ill be able to sleep. likewise, i know next to nothing about mothman. but i did my best to research them and hopefully it was enough


End file.
